


(In chaos) There is calculation

by stardustachilles



Series: Acosmist (one who believes nothing exists) [18]
Category: Dysprosium
Genre: Alex is 26, F/F, Family Dinner, Non-graphic depictions of violence, Sara is 19, baths, like it's barely mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 20:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11858883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustachilles/pseuds/stardustachilles
Summary: Alex and Sara go to dinner with James's family. Afterword, something happens on their way to a movie.





	(In chaos) There is calculation

“So,” Sara says.

“So,” Alex repeats, expectant.

They’re on their way to a dinner with James’s family. Sara knew almost nothing about them, only that they were all really close because their parents had died when James was sixteen, and his older brother, who had been twenty, had taken care of the family. She was unclear on how many siblings James had, but she knew he had both brothers and sisters.

Alex had told her earlier that James’s family usually visited more often and dropped in on Alex and James randomly, but they knew about Sara, and didn’t want to overwhelm her too soon. They wanted to overwhelm her all at once, in a populated restaurant. They must be nice people. (That wasn’t sarcasm; if they were anything like James, they actually were.)

Alex made a left turn, and Sara remembered what she had been starting to bring up. She rubbed the sweat off of her hands and onto her dress, the new one Alex had bought her yesterday. Sara loved it — it was white, went to mid-thigh, and had a sweetheart neckline, with cute pink and purple flowers all over it. It went nicely with the choker she wore, beige with three strings and gold beads on each.

“This guy asked me out the other day, after my English class,” Sara said, a hand flying up to her choker to fiddle with one of the beads.

“And?” Alex prompted.

“I said no, of course.” Alex reached over and tugged Sara’s hand down from her choker, tangling their fingers. “But we were kind of friends, and now I don’t know how to act around him? Like, I’m pretty sure he knew I was gay, but what if he turns out to be one of those guys that thinks he can ‘turn me straight’?”

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. Everybody in my high school thought I was dating either James, Keller, or Aristotle. Possibly all three. They were all too scared to ask me out. College was kind of the same way, but people were just scared of me in general.”

“You were kind of a slut in high school, weren’t you?” Sara asked.

“Apparently. I wasn’t aware that I slept with everyone until someone told me.”

Sara laughed. “But like, what if Aaron asks me out again?” Sara asks.

“Oh, his name’s Aaron?” Alex asks. “He’s probably going to turn out to be a dick then. Personal experience.”

“Oh, gee, thanks,” Sara said sarcastically. “I’ll keep that in mind next time.”

Alex laughed, and squeezed Sara’s hand. “We can continue this conversation later,” she said, and Sara noticed that she was pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant they had agreed to meet at. Alex found James’s Impala and took the spot next to it.

They got out of the car and it was so quiet that the honk when Alex locked her car startled her. Alex snickered, and grabbed her hand again. The restaurant wasn’t busy when they walked in, but it was warm, which Sara was grateful for. They bypassed the hostess waiting to seat them and found James’s table easily. There wasn’t another table there with seven people already at it, and two empty seats waiting.

Alex was greeted loudly, and almost everyone at the table stood up. She got bro-handshakes from everyone but James, but the bro-handshakes were more complicated than regular bro-handshakes, so Sara figured they must have their own special bro-handshake. James greeted Alex with a kiss on her cheek, and she kissed him back.

James hugged Sara gently, which must have been the queue for everyone else to introduce themselves. Sara was swarmed by a lot of bodies larger than her, and received a lot of warm hugs, but Alex’s hand didn’t let go of her’s. They all muttered something along the lines of “so nice to meet you” or “so glad you could make it.”

Everything settled down after that, and Alex put Sara between her and James. “Sara,” Alex said, “meet James’s family. James’s family, Sara.”

James took over the introductions of his family. The table was large and round, so he started with the person closest to him on his left.

“This is our youngest brother, Pat.” Pat had a sharp jawline and a septum piercing, hair that was shaved on the sides but curly on the top, and startlingly unique blue eyes. He smiled and winked at Sara, and Sara learned they were the same age, nineteen.

Beside Pat were two girls who looked more similar than the rest of the siblings, and Sara learned that they were the twins, Nika and Alya. Alya was seven minutes older, and Nika was more slender and had darker skin. They both had freckles and fuzzy-curly black hair, although Nika’s was tied up into space buns. They smiled at the same time and waved the exact same way, brown eyes twinkling. They were twenty-two.

Beside them was Dominic, the one with a goatee and the only boy with freckles. Sara was beginning to see the familial resemblance of everyone through the strong jawlines, because  _ damn _ . Dominic was twenty-nine and had the darkest skin of all the men.

Beside Dominic was Julianne, the one with a nose-ring and dyed orange-blonde poofy-curly hair. She was the oldest girl at twenty-five, and it definitely showed in her mannerisms.

Last but not least was the oldest, Thaddeus. He definitely had the warmest eyes and kindest smile, and Sara learned that he was already a father at thirty-one, even with all his other siblings to take care of.

They were all very beautiful people, with very strong jawlines. Sara was a little bashful, because she’d never been around a bunch of pseudo-B List models before. They were all very kind, rational people, though, despite Sara being informed that they were on their best behavior and were usually much more insane.

Dinner was fun, though. The food was good, and the conversation didn’t stop. Sara was made fun of because of her lack of tolerance for anything spicy, but it was all in good fun. She learned that James was closest with Pat, that the twins never left each other’s side, and that everyone jokingly called Julianne and Thaddeus Mom and Thad. (It was a pun on Dad.) No one outright told her, but Sara got the impression that Dominic had been the one tasked with taking care of the twins, because even now he made sure they finished everything on their plates and used proper etiquette.

Sara also learned that James’s family had almost been richer than Alex’s, and even though there were seven kids and their parents had died, all of the kids had still been able to go to the best schools and act like rich kids. Most of them were still in college, except for James, Thaddeus, and Dominic, who all already had PhD’s. Dominic was working toward his second in neurosurgery.

But despite all she learned, the conversation wasn’t entirely about James’s family. They asked how Alex was doing and fake-grilled her about Sara, because they were already protective over her. They asked Sara about school and her hobbies, and the new tattoo that Sara was designing for Alex even came up.

She also discovered that they had a no-phones-at-the-dinner-table rule, until the food came out. Then everyone pulled out their phones and so many group photos were taken, as were a lot of pictures of the food itself. Sara took a snap of her own food, and Alex’s tattooed wrist and expensive gold watch just happened to be in the photo as well, so Sara sent it to a bunch of her friends, including the guy who had asked her out, just to give him conflicted feelings. Alex’s hands weren’t distinctly female, with long, calloused fingers and short-clipped nails. Sara smiled deviously.

They all ate quickly, but Sara was one of the last to finish. They hung around for a bit longer until it started to get late, and Thaddeus picked up the tab. Alex curled her hand around Sara’s waist possessively as they walked out of the restaurant, other arm linked with James’s. Julianne was on Sara’s other side, keeping up aimless conversation as they walked to their cars.

They said their goodbyes the same way they said their hellos. Sara got more hugs than last time, and Nika gave her a piece of paper with everyone’s phone numbers labeled on it. Sara tucked it into her phone case so she wouldn’t forget to input the numbers later. She and Alex climbed into the car and Alex waited until Sara was buckled to start the engine.

“Do you want to go see a movie?” Alex asked. “It’s not that late and neither of us have anything to do tomorrow.” Alex’s hand curled around Sara’s and she brought it to her lips, kissing her knuckles.

“Sure,” Sara agreed. “That one I wanted to see just came out.”

Alex smiled and backed out of the spot one handed. She didn’t let go of Sara’s hand until she was parking in the movie theater parking lot, around the back so she could park away from the other cars with her expensive beast.

They climbed out of the car and Alex locked it. They had to walk through an almost-alley to get to the front of the theater, which was brightly-lit and invitingly warm. Sara tucked herself under Alex’s arm and momentarily pressed her face into Alex’s shoulder. Alex’s grip on her was tight and reassuring.

Sara didn’t notice the other figures loitering in the alley until Alex tensed up. Her fingertips dug into Sara’s hip and Sara looked up, seeing three men walk toward them. The one in the front, presumably the leader, was smoking a cigarette. Sara tried not to cough as the vile scent filled her lungs.

“Hey there, richy rich,” the man said, flicking his cigarette away. Alex pushed on Sara’s hip until Sara was pressed up against her back, fingers tangled in her belt loops. “What’re two pretty girls like you doin’ out late like this?”

Sara could just barely see over Alex’s shoulder the other two gathering behind the first. Alex backed up a couple steps, pushing Sara behind her. She didn’t answer the man, but lowly told Sara to call James over her shoulder. Sara pulled her phone out and dialed James’s number, and the man got closer.

“You don’t want to do that,” Alex warned, a threat in her voice.

James answered, and Sara’s voice was urgent. “We’re in the alley behind the movie theater. Come quick.” James didn’t ask what it was about, just agreed with the same tone of urgency in his voice and hung up.

“Don’t be like that, baby,” the man said. He came a step closer and Alex moved, quick as lighting, and punched him in the gut. The man doubled up and Alex pushed Sara back. Sara could hardly follow the action after that, but she knew Alex was winning. Alex only did enough to incapacitate the men, leaving them moaning on the ground.

James showed up just after Alex backed away from the last man lying on the ground. He came to Sara first, wrapping her in his arms and tucking her face to his chest so she couldn’t see. “Alex,” he said. “The police are on their way. Back up.”

Alex backed up, breathing heavy. Sara couldn’t see her, and Alex wouldn’t touch her, either. Sara heard sirens in the distance, rapidly getting closer. Police showed up, shouting, and James covered Sara’s ears. She could hear the muffled sounds of the men being dragged up from the floor and put in handcuffs, and Alex being questioned. James said a few words to someone and then Sara was moving, being taken back to Alex’s car.

James crowded her into the back seat and held her like Alex would, but it wasn’t the same. James was larger than Alex, almost too large, and took up a good portion of the back seat. It was good that Sara was so small, because she could curl up against him and not do anything.

Alex was back about twenty minutes later, throwing herself into the front seat and starting the car. She didn’t pull out of the parking lot, instead digging aggressively through the glove box and finding the bottle of sanitizer she kept there. Sara could see over James’s bicep that Alex used almost half of the bottle on her hands, scrubbing until there wasn’t a trace of blood left. Her knuckles were already starting to bruise, a bright pinkish red color.

Alex put the bottle away and backed out with jerky motions. James pulled out his phone and texted his sister to go home, and Sara assumed that she had his car. They got home quickly, a direct result of Alex decidedly not driving the speed limit. She parked in the garage and went inside, letting James deal with Sara, apparently.

James helped Sara out of the car, then picked her up when she just stared in the direction Alex disappeared in. Sara’s arms hung limply over James’s shoulders but he was strong enough to carry her with no problem, just like Alex could. Sara could hear the shower going upstairs, and James carried her up to Alex’s room.

He set her on the bed, gently laying her against the pillows. “Alex wouldn’t want me to leave you alone,” he said, and pulled one of the chairs by the windows over beside the bed so he could sit in it. He helped Sara unstrap her kitten heels and dropped them by the bed. He reached for her choker but Sara flinched back, and James held his hands up. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Not my place.”

Sara just shrugged, hands framing the collar around her neck. The shower cut off and James looked up at the door when Alex came in wrapped in a towel. He stood to leave, but Alex caught his arm gently when he passed her.

“Thank you,” Sara heard Alex say quietly. “I couldn’t be around her… like that.”

James nodded in understanding. “We’ll talk later,” he said. “I’ll be in my room.”

Alex kissed his cheek in thanks and James left, pulling the door closed behind him. Alex went into the closet to change, and came back out in leggings and James’s high school varsity sweatshirt. She sat silently beside Sara on the bed, and offered an arm out.

Sara tucked herself under it gratefully. Alex rubbed her arm, kissing the top of Sara’s head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s not a version of me I want you to have to see. Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Sara confirmed. “I’m fine. You protected me.”

“That’s my job, kitten.” Her other arm wrapped around to hold onto Sara’s hip. “I’ll always protect you.”

“Can I have a bath?” Sara asked, looking up at Alex. Her eyes were hard around the edges but softening, the longer she looked at Sara.

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “C’mon.” Alex carried her to the bathroom and set her on the counter as she filled the bath. Sara shimmied her way out of her dress and threw it to the corner of the bathroom. Alex motioned to her and Sara slid off the counter and threw her panties with her dress, and took Alex’s hand to slide into the bath.

The water was warm but not scalding, hot enough to unthaw Sara’s skin. Alex was kneeling beside the tub, and ran a hand through Sara’s hair once she was settled. Sara leaned into it, and Alex’s hand dropped to the nape of Sara’s neck, over the clasp of her choker. “Do you want to keep this on?” Alex asked.

Sara nodded. “Yes, please,” she whispered. “But when we get back to your room, I want a better one. Bigger.”

“The leather one with the ring?” Alex asked, and Sara nodded.

They sat there for a few moments, Sara leaning into Alex’s hand. Alex’s eyes were intense and searching, and Sara’s skin prickled under the scrutiny. “Can I have a couple minutes alone?” she asked.

Alex nodded quickly and pulled back. “Of course. Just call if you need anything.” Sara nodded back and Alex left, shutting the door behind her.

Sara sunk further into the tub, and heard Alex’s footsteps leading to James’s room. Good. They needed to talk about what happened. Sara couldn’t help Alex with that kind of thing, and she knew Alex wouldn’t be around her if she could put Sara in danger.

She rested her head back against the rim of the tub and closed her eyes. She could feel the pinpricks of anxiety moving in waves through her stomach, but she ignored it. She wanted Alex to be okay, and the hot water was soothing.

There was really no reason for her to need a bath, so Sara didn’t wash herself. The ends of her hair got wet, though, so she had to at least condition her hair so it didn’t get gross when it dried out. She tied her hair in a bun after lathering the conditioner through it, and pressed her back against the wall of the tub and hung her head forward so she wouldn’t get conditioner on anything.

By the time Alex came back, the water had gone cold and the conditioner had started to dry in Sara’s hair. Alex made a sympathetic noise of protest and ran warm water to rinse Sara’s hair out. She pulled Sara out of the tub and wrapped her in the fuzziest towel she could find.

They went back to Alex’s room and Alex gave more fuzzy things to change into, specifically the wool-lined leggings that Alex had grown out of and a new sweatshirt. They changed Sara’s collar and climbed into bed together. Alex held Sara close until she fell asleep, warm and loved.


End file.
